LIRR's new vending machines sell paper tickets, give change in bills, speak 10 languages, MTA says
Tara Santangelo, of Massapequa, purchases tickets using the new vending machines at the LIRR Massapequa station on Saturday afternoon. Credit: Joseph Sperber
Long Island Rail Road riders who want to hear the hole-puncher of a train conductor have new options for physical tickets.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has installed new ticket vending machines at 23 stations across the Oyster Bay, Ronkonkoma and Babylon branches as of Thursday. All of the agency's 126 LIRR stations "are expected to have the new machines by this summer," Laura Cala-Rauch, an MTA spokeswoman, said in an email on Saturday.
LIRR President Rob Free said the new ticket vending machines made the experience of buying a paper ticket "smoother and more convenient."
"We've been rolling out the new machines through the system over the last few months, and we're excited to connect Long Islanders with all the great destinations in Metro-North territory and the new features they offer," Free said in a statement on Friday.
The new vending machines sell tickets, allow riders to scan the bar code of a previously-purchased ticket to receive another similar stub and offer change in $5 and $10 bills. The machines also will have services in nine languages, plus English, up from three languages provided by older vending machines.
The agency said full installation of the ticket vending machines began in October and was expected to be completed by the middle of next year.
Brian Fritsch, associate director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, said the agency's old ticket vending machines "had reached the end of their useful life."
Fritsch said expanded language access and the ability to buy Metro-North tickets from an LIRR station was "a step in the right direction" toward better accessibility and interconnectivity between the railroads.
Paper tickets, he said, still serve a purpose, especially for riders who don't typically take the railroad and are unlikely to download an app for individual trips.
"I think that paper tickets are always going to have a place in the railroad, at least for the foreseeable future," Fritsch said.
The MTA said it also was improving its ticket office machine technology, used by LIRR workers to give tickets to customers who prefer to buy them at the window.
"We are upgrading those machines as part of this overall ticket machine system upgrade," Cala-Rauch said.
The MTA did not immediately provide information on the cost of the upgrades.
The ticket vending machine rollout comes ahead of approved fare increases set to take effect on Jan. 4.
The cost of LIRR tickets will climb by around 4.4%, with monthly tickets capped at $500, Newsday has reported.
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